WHAT DO YOU THINK? The 10 worst transportation decisions in Jacksonville...

[Jaxson]

10-The I-10/95 Merger
9- The Route Chosen to develop the Jacksonville Expressway / I-95 practically dividing the City and causing the needless demolition of much of it.
8- No Bridge from Timiquana to JTB...so We either Loop North then South or South then North to get from Ortega to the Beaches
7- Not completing the Skyway ,since it was elected to be built. Can I just mention its unsighlitness along Hogan to the Station which now Dead-ends Hogan@ Union.
6- Building the Skyway , never intending to finish it.
5- Total demolition of the first thoroughfare drawbridge crossing the River into Downtown, and instead of using the center span as a piece in a Park, spending a hell of alot more money to take it out and litter the Ocean with it.
4-Parking Meters, Surface Parking and One-way streets in Downtown.
3-Doing away with Union Station as a Train Terminal and sealing the underground Tunnels. STUPID.
2-Putting an Amtrak Station in a really Sketchy Area of Jacksonville
1-Doing away with most every other means of transportation in the city, other than that with rubber tires and Fuel-Powered. (With the exception of the Skyway which really covers very little of the city, in the big picture)

I love your Top 10 --- especially #2!  I like to take the train, but I believe that our current Amtrak station is a dump!

[JeffreyS]

We refer to it as Amshack

[Jaxson]

My top ten are listed in no particular order...
1. It was a royal mistake to move the Amtrak station from downtown to the current location on Clifford Lane.  It is in a shady side of town with little to offer for travelers.  It makes for a lousy first impression of Jacksonville.  
2. The Skyway was an overrated solution to our transit woes.  I remember when the naysayers were criticized for impeding 'progress.'  I admit that I bought into the hype, but was ultimately disappointed by how the city lacked the follow through to make the Skyway go anywhere.
3. I recall reading that the Hart (Commodore Point) Expressway was intended to reach J. Turner Butler Boulevard, but Arlington businessmen were opposed to the competition.  They wanted to funnel traffic down the Arlington Expressway and felt that another quick route to the Beaches would hurt their businesses.
4. The Dames Point bridge was built too low.  I am sure that it was either a matter of being stingy, short-sighted, or both.
5. The State of Florida withdrew funding from the Mayport Ferry, which is a segment of S.R. A1A.
6. Arlington Expressway, Southside Boulevard and Atlantic Boulevard merge into a traffic hell.  Throw in the Monument Road intersection and it gets even worse.
7. Beach Boulevard would have been ideal for a rail line to the Beaches.  Too bad that nobody planned for that and allowed the right-of-way to become yet another traffic-clogged road.
8. The end of the streetcar system in Jacksonville, and also our obsession with mislabeling potato chip vans as 'trolleys.'
9. Jacksonville International Airport.  The city got into the airport business a day late and a dollar short when compared to Atlanta.  And the city has apparently bungled opportunities to make the 'International' part actually mean something.
10. Why is there no Interstate route to directly connect us with Tampa and/or Atlanta?  I'll up the ante here.  Why doesn't Interstate 10 continue to the Beaches?

[Jaxson]

We refer to it as Amshack

You know about the Amshack meme?  Awesome!  It's time that Jacksonville gets on board and moves us out of that Amshack!

[Timkin]

Thats one train station they can tear down.

[Jaxson]

Thats one train station they can tear down.

I would not miss that place at all!

[Jaxson]

I forgot to include it in my top ten, but it is definitely a local transportation mistake (for both Duval AND Clay counties)....

BLANDING BOULEVARD!!!

[Timkin]

Sheesh.. how could we all forget the Duval /Clay Superhighway blunder of the last 50 years ? good one Jaxson

[I-10east]

Why is Blanding a mistake, just because it's heavily congested? I cannot think of any solutions for that. People seem to think was good for the burbs always equals bad for DT; Blanding Blvd was gonna happen anyway, no matter what with the growth of Orange Park.

Who knows, if some MJers have their way years ago, I could see "Streetcar to nowhere" being on this list. *rimshot*

[Jaxson]

Blanding is not a mistake simply because it is congested.  It is a mistake because some transportation planning could have prevented it from being so badly congested.
1. Firstly, Clay County is hurting because leaders and planners put all of their eggs into Blanding and U.S. 17 baskets.  Only two ways in and out of the Orange Park area?  Sure, we have Brannan Field Road, but it is not of practical use for many who live around the Town of Orange Park and adjacent areas.
2. Secondly, Blanding Boulevard is stop and go because it is chock full of driveways that connect to a plethora of shopping centers, strip malls and subdivisions.  I remember reading in the Clay Today back in the 1990s an article bemoaning this situation.  Today, we often in Clay County refer to working on future roads as wanting to avoid another 'Blanding.'
3. Growth is inevitable, as I have learned since moving to the Orange Park area in 1979.  The traffic jams and sprawl, however, could have been prevented with some foresight.  That is why I refer to Blanding as a mistake. 

[Timkin]

Blanding Blvd. is at full capacity.. To widen it any more, would require taking down much of the business on either side of the Road.  Double-Deckering does not seem feasible.  As Jaxson mentioned its a start-stop-start-stop nightmare , particularly into the Orange Park Area. Not sure how it can be relieved any. Thats why I call it a nightmare.  As to the Streetcar to nowhere....Don't see that anytime in the near-future on Blanding..

[Jaxson]

Another reason why Blanding is a major transportation mistake is because it is not very pedestrian friendly.  It is ideal for getting people in and out of this bedroom community, but very difficult for someone to try to walk around to perform basic errands. 

I also might add that Blanding is an example of how regional transportation planning could have prevented such a mess from happening.  Current and future solutions seem to be only a bandage for a gaping wound in our transportation infrastructure.  But, hindsight is better than 20/20.  There was money to be made from the willy-nilly development of Clay County...

[spuwho]

As a somewhat newcomer to the greater Jacksonville area, I read this with some chuckles.

I don't dispute there were some oversights, but some of these just couldn't be for-seen.

- Anything railroad based. Guys, I love rails as much as anyone, but rail was dying everywhere. Short lines could no longer be run profitably and passenger rail was losing money big time. There was no politics in NE Florida supporting tax based subsidies back then. Today yes, then no. Highways were it and that is where the money was going, period. If someone back when FEC ran the line to the Beaches said, "hey, you are going to need this in 50 years, so buy it now" when everything east of East Street and Hogan Road was basically a forest and one flashing stop light, they probably thought he was nuts. Short sighted, perhaps, but the right call at the time.

Relying solely on autos is a detriment around here, of that I agree, but it is nowhere near as bad as people think.  Actually, as someone coming from the outside, JTA has done well at getting the roads built. Now I can't say they are planned all that well all the time, but compared to most cities, "getting around" in Jacksonville is not as bad as one seems. There are many places that have routes much worse than the Blanding corridor, and when I have driven the route, it seems a minor issue overall.

Dames Point Bridge. My guess is that when it was built with a 150' clearance over a 42' channel, they had no indication that cruise ships of the future were going to need 165' clearance and 50' drafts to make port, let alone the Panamax ships. While I would love it if cruise ships could call near the downtown, there is no way anyone could have predicted this in 1986.

The BA Flight problem at JIA. There was a period in the US where there were strict rules on how non-US airlines could originate/land. Also, you mentioned they wanted to do a domestic "jump". Many countries do not allow non-domestic airlines to perform a what could be considered a local flight without some sort of concession from the host airport performing the jump, in this case JIA. Lufthansa had to get special permission to originate a flight from Cape Town to Munich with a jump stop in Johannesburg.  I can't see JIA allowing someone to tie up a gate, require an extended runway, where most people don't deplane (and spend $ in the terminal) and if it was a 747 or A380, probably wouldn't even need to refuel to get to Tampa (so no sales tax on fuel). What was in it for JIA? An expensive runway addition, a jumbo capable gate for flights that provide very little by way of revenue. Sounds like a no brainer to me.

Ending Hart Expwy at Beach, strategic error by far, put politics played a heavy part in blocking it to JTB. They can still overcome it by linking it to Southside someday.

[stjr]

Dames Point Bridge. My guess is that when it was built with a 150' clearance over a 42' channel, they had no indication that cruise ships of the future were going to need 165' clearance and 50' drafts to make port, let alone the Panamax ships. While I would love it if cruise ships could call near the downtown, there is no way anyone could have predicted this in 1986.

Spuwho, you "guess" totally wrong here.  It was predicted by many that the span would be too low.  By port users, the then very active and major employer, Jacksonville Shipyards, Inc., and other bridge critics.  Cruise and cargo (especially container) ships have been trending ever larger for at least 40 years and the trend was obvious when this bridge was planned.  In fact, at the time it was built, there already were ships that could not clear it.

By the way, the bridge was also criticized for having at least one of its support towers in a precarious spot at a turn in the river channel where the current is strong, the river narrows, and large ships have a tricky turning radius to navigate  Draft has no bearing on the bridge other than, I suppose, taller ships correlate with deeper drafts.

The fact is the height was lowered to save dollars to keep the bridge financially feasible as it was to be paid by tolls.  If it were to cost too much, the bridge wouldn't have been built at that time.  Real estate speculators betting on the north shore were the reason behind the building of this bridge and nothing would stop them from seeing it built on the schedule they were banking on.  The port, bridge safety, etc. be damned.  That' s typical of how too many decisions get made in Jax.  Study almost any bad decision on these lists, and you will find that behind many of them.

By the way, this bridge was a JTA project.  Surprise, surprise.

[north miami]

       Here is one we actually managed to stop.For now at least.

 Related to the city entangled,horrific Freedom Commerce wetland development proposals 2001/2,prodded by an ardent Preservation Jacksonville grasp that sought from the Freedom Commerce developer Goodman Company a million dollar payment to the Plan and  'preserved' wetland acreage spared from wetlands to be developed added to the legacy.(Mayor Delaney Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, after stepping down from that office was hired as consultant by the developer.The fact that she was a card carrying Sierra Club member gave little benefit to the resource-enviros had to work against and around her)

                         *** Sunbeam Road extension,via wetland overpass ***

As was so often the case during that era,roadway proposal promoters and compliant public officials touted the extension "because DOT wants it".Questioning by this writer during  public meeting revealed Nocatee was assumed to be the "driver" behind traffic projections.

The proposal was dropped.This was a time of increasing disillusionment over obscure but then emerging Better Jacksonville transportation 'improvements' such as multiple intersection overpasses throughout the city.

The development order would state that only the developer would not pursue further overpasses or Sunbeam Road extension.
- N.M.